Cyclones leave for state tournamentRussellville Cyclones head baseball coach Matt Long hopes to lean on solid pitching throughout the Class 6A State Tournament. Long said he has two solid pitchers in: Garrett Freeman and Mark Moyer. "Good pitching will always be better than good hitting," Long said. "I haven't seen everybody's guys, but Mark and Garrett are some of the best around. We are going to climb in a foxhole with those two guys. People will be shooting some bullets at u...

Lady Apaches prepare for 4A tourneyMENA — Pottsville Lady Apaches head softball coach Greg Jones made an early trip to Mena for the first round of the Class 4A state playoffs. The Lady Apaches earned a first-round bye, so Jones watched the Bauxite Lady Miners and Trumann Lady Wildcats go head-to-head and scouted the team he will face in round two. Bauxite won 10-0. "They're really athletic," Jones admitted. "They're really well-coached, and they have a pitcher that is very comp...

State Tournament briefs (May 14, 2015)Soccer DHS SB 7, Malvern 0 MAUMELLE — The Dardanelle Sand Lizards devastated the Malvern Leopards 7-0 in the first round of the Class 4A state playoffs. Edgardo Mendoza scored five of the Sand Lizards seven goals — three of which came within five minutes of each other in the second half. Dardanelle's other goals came from Nervin Martinez and Roberto Martinez. Dardanelle will play in the second round at 4 p.m. today RHS SB 6, Texarkana 0 SEARCY...

by
Compiled by Travis SimpsonThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Dardanelle, Danville soccer heads to stateDARDANELLE — Sand Lizards head coach Bryan Hardaway is anxious for his team's first-round Class 4A state playoff game against the Malvern Leopards today at the Rolling Oaks Soccer Complex in Maumelle. The Sand Lizards haven't played a game since Thursday and Hardaway said he'd like to keep the ball rolling. Dardanelle ended the regular season 14-0 — a feat made more impressive by the face that each win was notched on the road as Keenan Field h...

RHS to host Meet of ChampionsCyclone Stadium will play host to the best track and field athletes in the state on Saturday during the 2015 Meet of Champions. The annual Meet of Champions pits the No. 1 competitors from each track and field event from each classification's state meet against one another in an effort to determine the best-of-the best. "It's been a long time since we've done this," Russellville head track coach Charlie Goodman said. "This is the cream of the ...

Atkins wins region with two-out, last inning rallyBOONEVILLE — The Atkins Lady Red Devils won the 3A Region-1 Regional Tournament on Tuesday with back-to-back wins over the Charleston Lady Tigers and the Booneville Lady Bearcats. Atkins defeated Charleston 4-0 in the semifinals before moving on to beat Booneville in the finals on the same day. The Lady Red Devils trailed 2-0 going into the seventh inning against Booneville but scored three runs in the bottom of the inning to snatch the victor...

Year one: Dawson prepares for spring footballEditor's note: This is part of an ongoing series that chronicles the first year of the Billy Dawson era of Cyclones football. The first story in this series ran on Jan. 24. Billy Dawson has learned a few things about his players since he got the Cyclones head football coach job on Dec. 30. He's learned they are hungry for success. “All the kids have responded well and have bought in to what we are doing. They've bought in to me and the new coa...

Lady Wildcats win regional tournamentHECTOR — The Lady Wildcats are 2A-4 Conference champions, 2A-4 District champions and 2A-West Region champions after defeating the Quitman Lady Bulldogs 8-0 on Monday in the 2A-West Region Tournament finals. Hector (19-6) head coach Kyle Russell said he feels pretty good about the team's chances for a state run. “We are peaking at the right time,” he said. “If we can go down there and put games together at the state tournament, we feel like we...

Lady Apaches blank Gravette, win region titleDOVER — The Pottsville Lady Apaches dominated the Gravette Lady Lions 11-0 in the finals of the 4A-North Region Tournament on Tuesday at J.P. Lovelady Park. Pottsville (25-3) scored three runs in the top of the second and five in the top of the fourth and shocked the Lady Lions 8-0 after six innings. The Lady Apaches added one in the sixth and two in the seventh to set the final score. Pottsville head coach Greg Jones said he speculated the La...

RHS falters against ViloniaVILONIA — The Russellville Cyclones fell 7-6 to the Vilonia Eagles on Monday. Russellville pitcher Mark Moyer took the loss. Moyer, one of four Cyclones to take the pitcher's mound, struck out two across two innings, gave up five hits and four runs (all earned). Other pitchers were Garrett Freeman, Ben Wilkins and Joel Barker. At bat, Jacob Boles was 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Chase Bicanovsky was 1-for-4. Moyer was 4-for-4 with three RBIs. Andy C...

by
Courier Sports StaffThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Lady Apaches qualify for stateDOVER — The Pottsville Lady Apaches qualified for the Class 4A state tournament on Monday with a 9-3 victory over the Lincoln Lady Wolves in the first round of the 4A-North Region Tournament at J.P. Lovelady Park. The first round game was originally scheduled for Friday, but several rounds of stormy weather delayed the majority of the tournament until Monday. The Lady Apaches (24-3) took the lead in the bottom of the first inning after a pair ...

Lady Lizards run rule BobcatsDOVER — The Dardanelle Sand Lizards run ruled the Berryville Lady Bobcats 13-2 on Friday in the first round of the 4A-North Region Tournament at J.P. Lovelady Park and qualified for the Class 4A state tournament. Dardanelle (14-10) scored seven runs in the top of the fifth inning and held the Lady Bobcats to one to force the run rule. The Lady Sand Lizards led 6-1 going into the inning. “I thought we came out on fire,” Dardanelle head coach Ly...

Lady Lizards compete at state track meetHEBER SPRINGS — Members of the Dardanelle Lady Sand Lizards track and field team competed recently in the Class 4A state track meet on May 5. Danielle Lorenz won the shot put with a distance of 38 feet. Lorenz’ winning throw qualified her for the Meet of Champs at Cyclone Stadium on Saturday. The Meet of Champs puts the winners from each event in each classification against one another for the final meet of the season. Alisa Kimble recorded a ...

by
Courier Sports StaffThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Lady Red Devils qualify for stateBOONEVILLE — The Atkins Lady Red Devils overwhelmed the Greenland Lady Pirates 6-2 on Friday in the 3A Region-1 Tournament to qualify for the Class 3A state playoffs. Atkins tied the game 2-2 in the bottom of the first inning and added another run in the third. The Lady Red Devils plated six runners in the fifth to set the final score. Atkins held Greenland scoreless across the final two innings. The Lady Red Devils went up for good in the fif...

Pirates’ season comes to an end in 1st roundDOVER — The Pirates baseball season came to an end Saturday at J.P. Lovelady Park as they were defeated by the Pea Ridge Blackhawks 7-5 in the first round of the 4A-North Region Tournament. Dover’s game stretched across two days as thunderstorms moved across midway through the original start on Friday. The Pirates (14-10) played through four innings on Friday. The game was called with Dover trailing 2-1 and scored their lone run on Friday on a...

Hector tops UC, qualifies for stateHECTOR — The Wildcats qualified for the Class 2A state tournament on Friday with a 7-2 win over the Union Christian Eagles in the 2A-West Region Tournament. Hector scored five runs in the third inning to take a lead they would never relinquish. The Wildcats added two across the fourth and fifth innings, while Union Christian scored in the bottom of the third and sevenths. Dalton Day led from the plate with three RBIs. Day tripled in the third ...

Cyclones top GreenwoodMark Moyer's single to score Jacob Boles in the bottom of the sixth inning was all the Russellville Cyclones needed to notch a 1-0 victory over the Greenwood Bulldogs on April 29 at M.J. Hickey Park. Moyer struck out 10 batters across seven innings on three hits. Greenwood pitcher Conner Noland struck out nine, walked three and gave up three hits and one run across six innings.

by
Courier Sports StaffThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

RHS programs celebrate Senior NightThe Russellville Cyclones and Lady Cyclones celebrated softball and baseball Senior Night with a sweep of the Siloam Springs Panthers and Lady Panthers. The Cyclones dominated Siloam Springs 9-1, while the Lady Cyclones won 10-9 at M.J. Hickey Park. Russellville (9-12, 5-7 7A/6A-Central Conference) led 3-0 at the end of the the fourth inning. The Cyclones scored five runners in the fifth and one in the sixth to widen the score. The Panthers sc...

Sand Lizards narrowly win 4A-4 District track meetDARDANELLE — The Dardanelle Sand Lizards won the recent 4A-4 District Track meet, with junior Chris Kershner finishing as the High Point winner. Kershner won the 100, 200, 400 and was instrumental in the 400 relay. “I cannot single out any one person for this win,” Dardanelle head coach Shawn Walter said. The Sand Lizards sent several Sand Lizards to Tuesday’s Class 4A State Track meet in Heber Springs. Dardanelle’s 800, 400 and 1,600 teams al...

Lady Apaches win 4A-4 District titleDOVER — The Pottsville Lady Apaches defeated the Clinton Lady Yellow Jackets 6-3 and won the 4A-4 District title on Monday at J.P. Lovelady Park. Pottsville (22-3) opened the scoring in the second inning when Ashley LeQuie’s single scored Hannahmarie Savage, who reached on a single and stole second before LeQuie bumped her home for a 1-0 lead. Clinton tied the game in the top of the third on an error and a single, but the Lady Apaches jumped o...